


Last Day Of The Rest Of My Life

by Lara Winner (rah10381)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Chat Noir, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bunnix has a plan, Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Identity Reveal x 2, Major Character Death... but only for the first chapter, Marinette gets a take two, more tags to come..., the fluff will come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25499401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rah10381/pseuds/Lara%20Winner
Summary: When the unexpected happens, Marinette is given one day to tell those she loves how much they mean to her before her time is up. Hopefully the closure will be enough to divert a catastrophic future. With a little luck it might be enough to save her life too.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	Last Day Of The Rest Of My Life

The hospital waiting room was oppressively silent as Adrien stepped in, his stomach twisting like a pretzel at the sight of Marinette's parent's. Sabine offered him a weak smile as Tom nodded his head in acknowledgement. Somehow seeing them made the situation real.

Another two steps in and Alya wrapped him up in a warm, solid hug. "I didn't think your father would let you come."

"I didn't bother to ask," Adrien replied, still slightly out of breath from his twelve block sprint.

As Alya pulled away Nino clapped him on the shoulder. "We're all glad your here, dude," he said, the somberness of his friend's tone only worsening to Adrien's nerves.

"What happened?" He asked Alya. "The voicemail you left just said Mari was in an accident and to get here fast."

"Mari was on a delivery and she was hit by a car-" Alya paused as her voice broke, having to take a few deep breaths before she could continue. "The police said they were told by witnesses that a little girl ran into the street and that Mari pushed her out of the way but got hit instead. It happened not far from the bakery."

That explained the unusual traffic when Gorilla had picked him up after fencing practice. Frustration borne of his own uselessness coursed through Adrien like ice water and his fists clenched.

Fuck! If only he'd known...

Known what? That one of his best friends was horribly wounded? It's not like he could do anything. Even as Chat Noir, the most he could have done was carry her to hospital which was actually the worst thing to do if she sustained a spinal injury.

Goddamn it! He was a superhero. He had the ability to save an entire city from an Akuma but couldn't save Marinette when she needed help the most. What the fuck good was he?

Everyone turned as the door opened.

He knew.

Maybe it had something to do with being the wielder of bad luck or maybe he was simply destined to lose the people he loved most, but even though the doctor's face was impassive, Adrien knew what the next words out of the man's mouth were going to be. His anxiety turned sharp and painful as it crushed his chest in a vice grip.

The doctor ushered Tom and Sabine over for privacy, speaking to them in low, measured tones. Adrien tried his hardest to hear what was said but without his miraculous, he could only make out a few word here and there. It was all medical jargon until it wasn't.

"...put up a good fight... nothing more we could do..."

Sabine's choking sobs drowned out the rest.

"Oh god," Alya whimpered, before her own tears took over and she buried her face against Nino's shoulder, griping his shirt so tightly that her knuckles were white. 

Nino looked shell shocked as he watched the Dupain-Cheng's with watery, unfocused eyes.

No.

No no no!

Marinette wasn't...

She couldn't be...

She wasn't dead. She wasn't...

Adrien could feel himself shutting down. He couldn't breathe, his lungs refused to expand and his pulse was a frantic, pounding drum echoing in his ears. He was cold, inside and out, his muscles brittle like ice.

His heart hurt. Every beat ached.

The tiny pinprick of claws scratching at his chest pulled Adrien from his spiral enough to draw a ragged breath as he clutched at his wriggling pocket. Heeding Plagg's urgency, Adrien fled the waiting room unnoticed, blindly searching for something-

Emergency stairs. That would do.

Stumbling into the stair well, Adrien collapsed against the nearest wall, his rear hitting the floor as Plagg flew from his pocket. Ears and body drooping, it was the devastated expression on Plagg's face was the final straw.

Adrien broke.

Pulling his knees to his chest, he pressed his face to his knees as the tears started. He felt Plagg awkwardly patting his hair with a paw, a distressed purr rumbling from his kwami's throat.

"Kid, this is bad. Really, really bad."

No, not just bad. It wasn't fucking fair.

Marinette was the best of them. She was warmth and home. She was smiles and kindness. Her future would have made the world a better place.

Why did she have to go?

Oh god. She was gone.

She wasn't coming back.

"Adrien, kid, I need you to pull yourself together. Losing Pigtails is just the tip of the iceberg here."

Lifting his head, Adrien swiped at his eyes. "What?"

"We're in big trouble. What do you think they'll do with the stuff she was wearing today?" Plagg asked, wringing his paws. "Will they give it all to her parents?"

Adrien glared at his kwami incredulously. "That's what you're worried about? Her stuff?" Anger surged before he could give Plagg's odd question consideration. "Marinette is dead," he hissed, the word burning like bile in his throat, "Dead, Plagg. Don't you care?"

"I do care," his kwami replied with a wince, for once lacking his usual sarcasm, "but we are knee deep in serious shit and you don't have time for a meltdown. We need to get Pigtails' earrings and then you need to figure out where she hid the miracle box because unless you have a better idea you're the new guardian."

Adrien froze, his mind refusing to make sense of Plagg's response. Static filled his head as the words bounced around his brain.

_Earrings._

_Miracle box._

_Guardian._

He understood what Plagg was implying, right?

That meant...

Marinette was Ladybug.

Ladybug was gone.

Adrien screwed his eyes shut, his fists clenching in his hair as nausea rolled his stomach.

This was a nightmare. He just needed to wake up, that's all. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. He wasn't going to survive this if it was.

Adrien flinched as a gentle weight settled on his shoulder, the small creature curling up against his neck. Only it wasn't Plagg.

"I'm so sorry," Tikki whispered, sniffling. "Marinette was a true ladybug. She always put others first. It was what she did best."

"Sugarcube, do you know where she hid the miracle box?" Plagg asked, settling on Adrien's opposite shoulder.

"I do. But first, take these, Adrien," Tikki said prompting him to open his hand with a soft nudge.

Adrien stared down at the unassuming earrings in his palm, the black gems lackluster under the fluorescent lights. They burned cold against his skin.

Cold. Lifeless. Empty.

What was left of Adrien's heart shattered.

Dimly, from the tunnel like depths of his broken thoughts, Adrien heard Plagg hiss and Tikki gasp. Then he saw the butterfly, shimmering purple and oozing effervescent darkness as it fluttered toward the silver ring on his finger.

He embraced the curious numbness that filled him as the butterfly took over.

_Chat Noir..._

He stiffened at the hated voice that filled his mind.

_Pain. Loss. Having the one you love torn away too soon. A black cat without his lady is no hero. You don't have the heart to save others when you could not save your partner._

"Go to hell, Hawkmoth," he said woodenly, too numb to even feel anger.

_What would you give to have your lady back at your side? What would you sacrifice for the sake of love?_

Adrien wasn't sure why Hawkmoth was holding back and jerking his chain with the illusion of having a choice when they both knew he could take complete control at any time. There was no point in denying the truth. He would give his own life for Marinette. But Hawkmoth already knew that.

_You and I are not so different. Everything I have done I have done for love. I have set aside my morals and become a monster because that is what it will take to bring your mother back. Come Adrien, together we can restore life to those taken from us._

Oh. His father was Hawkmoth after all.

Adrien began to giggle, the sound wet and manic as it echoed throughout the stairwell, his perception of logic and reality fraying at the edges.

Was it always going to end this way? Were the sins of the father destined to be the sins of the son?

"Wishing them back will come with a price, you know," he warned, ignoring the frantic kwami's as he attached the ladybug miraculous to each ear.

_You have never shied away from taking risks. Why start now?_

Why indeed.

"Claws out." As the green light washed over his body, Adrien caught the disappointment in Tikki's large blue eyes. It was so much like his Lady's that he had to look away.

"She wouldn't want this," said Tikki sadly.

No, Marinette wouldn't. She was a better person inside and out. He'd always known that, just as he'd always known she would never chose him, any version of him, over duty. She deserved to be the Guardian. He didn't.

"Tikki unify," he whispered.

_I will only ask once. Will you join me, Son?_

"Yes, father." Rising to his feet, Adrien clung to numbness, resolute.

They had a wish to make.

**Author's Note:**

> Yup. I started another story...
> 
> Why do I do this to myself?


End file.
